Used the motor to tow yesterday for the first time and I'm not a happy bunny

There's so much play in it the noise of it clonking and bonking is unacceptable...

Anybody else experienced this ?

Yes I noticed this the first time I used the FF to tow my Ifor Williams car transporter, I found it was worse unladen, also my tow ball was a bit too low which made the situation worse.

The only way to remove completely would be to bolt it in, or may the tow bar bit a tighter fit in the receiver.

Yep, can be noisy. Mine has the detachable hitch, so it's not play in the bar.

It's a toss up, its dead quiet with the caravan as it has an alko hitch stabiliser, but when I put the trailer on it is very noisy, but then again there is no grease on the ball as it needs to be clean for the caravan, which would probably help somewhat.

Funny because it's not noisy with the disco... I wonder if the ball is a little smaller by a mm so has a bit of slop. As has been said is much better with 150kg on the nose. My trailer has a very low nose weight unladen maybe even negative.... There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
Fiat 500x 1.4 multiair Lounge 2015
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

The problem is where the so called removable part slots into the receiver it is so loose it moves up/down and left to right,I have spoken to the dealers and I'm thinking of having the 2 parts welded to stop it

You can see in this pic just how much of a gap there is

Click image to enlarge

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated

I have had the same on several L323's - now I just push a business card into the slot - it takes up the freeplay, its simple, it works and you can still remove the towbar. Don't weld it you will ruin the towbar and if there is an accident it could be blamed... 2021 L405 Vogue SE 4.4 V8 DIESEL ~ #17

Tap a couple of plastic building packers tight into the slots. Will take up the slack and won't go soggy

I Have loads of them around on site and can post a few assorted ones out to you if you PM me your address. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
Fiat 500x 1.4 multiair Lounge 2015
2010 LR D4 Commercial 2.7 TDV6

Gibberingidiot wrote:

Used the motor to tow yesterday for the first time and I'm not a happy bunny

There's so much play in it the noise of it clonking and bonking is unacceptable...

Anybody else experienced this ?

Gibberingidiot wrote:

Anybody else experienced this ?

Yep - we all have - you asked for the advice, then ignored it........

I always take the view that if the rattling stops I must have forgotten to put the pin in before I set off  Geoff

I find that I can concentrate on where I'm going as long as there is a rattle from the back, the second that I hit smooth road, which doesn't happen a lot now a days, I'm looking more in the rear view mirror to see if everything is still there
I will admit that it can be more than annoying if the trailer has little or no nose weight, I find that the nearer to the max nose weight the quieter it gets, and if your pulling a multi axle set up then it really needs to be level or slightly high at the nose. If it's low at the nose it will preload the front axle of the trailer and cause the trailer to lift the rear of the car, lots of knocking noise and a trailer all over the road. The only exception to this is twin axle set up on leaf springs, as the tandem link balances the weight on each axle regardless of the nose height.
And you are right the L/R hitch height is a little on the low side, especially if you've a twin axle 'Indespencion' setup. If you have the height adjustable hitch you should be able to get around this, if you have the swan neck, good luck! Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Alistair wrote:

Gibberingidiot wrote:

Anybody else experienced this ?

Yep - we all have - you asked for the advice, then ignored it........

didn't ignore it,just had to go with the Stealers advice till I got home ,as I was told that would void the warranty

@northernmonkeyjones...thanks for that idea,I think I might have something like that kicking around in the garage ,if not I may take you up on your offer thanks

If you get stuck try these

http://www.toolstation.com/shop/p46640

 Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

It's also a good use for old credit cards - don't tell me it's not just me that keeps them.  Geoff

Hey Chap, why not save yourself some dosh and just use the wife's current cards  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!